LUCKNOW: The State Election Commission (SEC) on Sunday announced the dates of Local Urban Body polls. The voting would be held in two phases on May 4 and May 11. The results will be announced on May 13.
With the announcement of polls, the model code of conduct came into force immediately.
State Election Commissioner Manoj Kumar issued the notification for the elections soon after the state government issued the fresh notification on OBC and SC/ST reservations.
“In Lucknow and Varanasi, the voting will take place in the first phase on May 4", he said.
Earlier, the state government had issued the draft proposal for the quota on March 31 on the basis of the recommendation of the five-member Backward Commission listing the reserved seats for the three-tier civic body. The objections over the list were sought by April 6.
Out of the 17 posts of Mayor, 199 of chairpersons of Nagar Palika Parishad and 534 Nagar Panchayats – which add up to 760 total seats – 205 posts have been reserved for OBCs, 288 for women of all categories, 110 for Scheduled Castes (SCs) and two for Scheduled Tribes (STs), according to the new notification.
As per the earlier draft reservation notification issued by the state government on December 5, 2022, 255 seats were reserved for women, 205 for OBCs, 102 for SCs, and 1 seat for STs.
However, it was challenged in the Allahabad High Court which asked the state government to go ahead with the civic polls in the state without OBC reservation as the quota decided by it was not in consonance with the Supreme Court guidelines of the triple test.
Subsequently, the UP govt challenged the HC order in the apex court which asked the government to follow the due procedure to ascertain the quota and then conduct the polls with OBC reservation.
On the direction of the Supreme Court, the state government constituted a five-member panel to look into the backwardness criteria for defining reservation among other things as the triple-test requirement.
Following the commission’s report, which was submitted to the government, the Supreme Court allowed holding the elections in the three-tier body with OBC quota on March 27, this year.
The elections will witness the political parties, including the ruling BJP and principal opposition Samajwadi Party, trying to strengthen themselves ahead of the 2024 Lok Sabha elections. The politically crucial state sends 80 MPs to the Lok Sabha.